WORKING CLASSES' MEETING Hobart 1855

A PRELIMINARY meeting of the working classes
was called by advertisement and holden last week at the room adjoining Mr. Mitson's, Union Inn,
Liverpool and Campbell-sheets.

The great object of the meeting was the consideration of the Act of Council, 18 Vict. No. 8, which is
an act to amend the law relating to masters, servants,
and apprentices, and better known by the name of
the " Masters' and Servants' Act."

The business of the meeting commenced soon after
seven, when
Mr. Richards, Murray-street, on the motion of
Mr. Partridge, seconded by Hollis, was appointed
Chairman.

The Chairman said the business of the evening
was quickly told. They were all aware many acts
had emanated from that "collection of wisdom,"
the Legislative Council but the one to which particular reference was made, was that defining the
relations between the employer and the employed, or
masters and hired servants.

Many of those interested
in this Act felt that it was wrong, that it was an
injury, and the opposition to it might lend to fearful
consequences. This excitement it was now wished
should be led in in a proper way, and should be carried on only in a constitutional way. (Loud cheers )
A great cry hid arisen concerning the freedom of
this island, but (whether Downing-street or any
other place should be charged with it) the cry did
ascend into the air, and that cry was, " Tasmania is
free!"

But no sooner was this done, than their
great men found out that while they had freed the
island, they had given an opportunity to the free
to show their independent spirit and their manhood,
and lest it should be found too easy to dwell in the
colony, they emanated and were continuing that system
which they said they had intended to abolish. For
this purpose strangers were imported and sent out,
for it was well known that when the labour
market was glutted the labourer's price must
in some measure be subdued.

Upon the
statements put forth, men thought they would come
in freedom of spirit and of independence ; but, if the
truth were known, who but a prisoner in England
would ever come here ? The next thing to be considered was. what is as to be done to crush those who
came out when they came here, and on their arrival ?
It was said that in the human " bosom burned
brightly the love of liberty," but if they wished to
see what that liberty was, let them look at the
Masters' and Servants' Act. (Hear, hear )

He had
no party feeling in this business—almost all present
were working men; and if he was not a servant, he did not know whether he might not yet become so,
nor whether all his children might not be. One
daughter he had who was with a good master, but
this was not the case with all—(No, no)—but let
them, as working men, think and strive for them-
selves, for their own interest, for if they did not they
would soon be forgotten. (Applause)

Mr. Hollis, Murray-street, wished the requisition he should present to them had been put into
better hands, as he felt he was not able to do full
justice to this most important measure. He had been
twelve months in this colony, and soon after arrival
here he found the Masters' and Servants' Act before
the Legislative Council, and he had paid special
attention to its progress through that assembly ; he
had watched with deep anxiety every clause of that
fatal measure. From its first introduction into the
Council until its final conclusion he had not known,
as a working man, what it was to lay his head on
his pillow in security. He had a most honourable
employer, but at that time he did not know what
moment might deprive him of his liberty. The
watching of the progress of that measure—of that
Act before them to which he had drawn attention
excited in his mind the greatest disgust and indignation ; and he then began to look around him tor some
mode of relief by opposition.

He wrote to Mr.
Kermode, of Campbell Town, the only representative
of the people who opposed that measure; and to that
gentleman's honour, be it said, that he, and he alone,
stood up against that infamous clause committing to
prison for three months a helpless servant girl.
(Great cheering.) This confinement might by a
police magistrate here, under that Act be made
solitary for the whole period, a punishment which in
England was only inflicted upon the oldest and most
hardened offenders ; and this clause, as he had before
remarked, lind been discussed and had been passed
by a Council which had pretended so much anxiety
to change the whole penal character of this fair
colony. (Applause.)

When be saw this he wrote a
letter to the Courier upon the subject. That letter
appeared on the 27th September, and in the course of
a few days the sum of £2 was sent to him by some
gentlemen as a testimony of their respect to him for
so advocating the working man's cause. He thought
be could not better expend that sum than by having
copies of that letter struck off, that servants might
know how they were situated, and he did
so, and conies of that letter were now in
the hands of the meeting before him. It was the law
because it was the law—that upon complaint of the
master the poor friendless servant might he committed
to prison because she refused to do anything her
master ordered her to do ; she might be given into the
care of a rude constable, by that rude constable she
would be taken to gaol ; when she came out from
there she must go back to the same master, or be
dragged back by that same rude hand. (Hisses.)

His heart sickened at instances of cruelty towards
some of the poor girls in this colony. He would
instance the case of one who hired herself to a tradesman here, at which time there was one other servant
in the same employ. Presently one goes, and the
new girl has the duties of the two. What then ? why
this—if she refused to do it she is given into custody.
This poor girl was from Ireland, perhaps from a poor
and humble hut, but still in the, home she had left
she no doubt had been surrounded by hearts that
loved her. She did refuse, and was torn away from
the house, taken before a police magistrate, and by
bim sentenced to seven days' imprisonment, and now
she is actually serving in that same family.

From
Melbourne he came here penniless, and he had met
with a kind and honourable master ; but what would
have been his fate had he fallen into the hands of
some common huxter, or some petty vender of trumpery tarts? It might have been this, that both him
self and his wife might have spent the remainder of
their days in a prison. He had instanced
himself, and stood there as a testimony of respect to
a good master. (Hear, hear ) He did not come there
to complain of the masters, but of the Act which gave
them such power. Suppose a man, not strong enough
to do his allotted task, says he cannot do it, the master
replies, " Yes, you can, you are as much able as Bill,
Tom, or Harry." Suppose he replied, " No." Then
comes " disobedience" of orders ; he is taken before a
magistrate, and sent to prison for 14 days. Now,
suppose at that time there should be twelve weeks'
salary due to himself and his wife when he failed to
obey orders; the magistrate sends him to prison, and
those wages are forfeited. Was this honest? Was
it just? Was it fair? Was this the object which the
inhabitants of this country wished carried ont ? No ;
they must make some allowance for the Legislative
Council, but must so proceed that, like Mr. Miles, of
East Somerset, each supporter of this unjust Act must
hide his diminished head. (Cheers)

Mr. Hollis then
read the preamble of the Act, to show that by the
term " labourer" all branches of labour were included
in the penal consequences of this measure, which was
one of the most monstrous ever introduced into the
Legislative Council ; an Act which included, either by
themselves, their wives, or their families, six-sevenths
of the whole population of Australia. True, a man
might have engaged that if he did so and so, his
master should do so and so ; but let them remember
that this would not avail them, as the Act was retrospective, which only made it the more monstrous. To
be sure, it was declared by clause 5 that wages should
be paid quarterly, unless it were otherwise expressly
agreed ; but what did this mean ? It meant that a
larger amount of wages should lay in the hands of
the employer. He did not intend to imply that the
Legislative Council had any dishonest motive in
view when this clause was inserted, for no doubt the
greater part of them were strictly honourable men ;
but still there was no doubt that just about that time
gold was to be discovered at Macquarie Harbour, and
they must know very well that when "gold " was
put in one scale and " honesty "; in the other, which
would go down. (Laughter and cheers )

The speaker
then said that there were many good masters,
instancing a case well known to him, where the
master was kind as a father, and his lady
as gentle as a mother. That master was the proprietor of one of the newspapers here, and he would
say that he always found those who advocated their
own principles on public grounds alone, to be in private life the most amiable and best of men. In
reference to the sixth clause, by which a servant
refusing to perform his service was liable to three
months' imprisonment with hard labour, or to forfeit
the whole of any portion of his wages at the discretion of the justice, Mr. Hollis said he would again
refer to the case of the poor girl which he had previously spoken of.

That girl could not do the work
of two servants, and the family washing in addition
Three days after his letter appeared—but it was not then
known by whom it was written—the then Attorney
General came down to the Council and wished the
punishment to be converted in such cases into a fine
not exceeding £20—twenty pounds for a poor servant
girl to pay, or to be kept for fourteen days in solitary
confinement ! The work must be done, and should
be done in a " diligent, careful manner," but they
knew there were some people, let them do what they
would, who never did do their work in a " diligent,
careful manner." They might as well try to take
an observation of the lunar planet as to do their work
in the estimation of some either in a "diligent,
careful manner," or in a reasonable manner at all.

He then referred to the 9th clause of the Act which
empowers the master in the event of his servant
being drunk to give bim into the custody of a constable, by whom he would be taken before the justice,
who might commit him for three months and forfeit
all his wages. A servant girl had £11 due to her
and she gave a month's notice of her intention to
leave, as she was about to be man wed. The master
refused to accept the notice, and because the girl left,
she was brought up on the plea that she had agreed
to serve for 12 months, and singular to state she was
fined just £11 (shame.) an amount which would
pay twice over the most brutal assaults ever coming
before the magistrates in England. They would
look at the monstrous effects which could be produced by such a clause. Let them suppose that just
as a servant's wages were due, the master charged
him with some offence ; the wages-would be forfeited,
and the servant returned to be charged again just as
more wages were due. Why, a man might be kept
in a state of perpetual servitude by his master with-
out any expense. Could they then wonder that the
colony wanted freedom, when servants could by such
means be had for nothing?

He next referred to
clause 16, which enacts that where imprisonment is
awarded with hard labour, the justice may direct the
offender to be kept in solitary confinement for a
portion of such time not exceeding thirty days. This
dreadful punishment might, perhaps, be imposed
upon a servant because he might not be able to carry
a bag of sugar or to drag a bag of salt. Servants
ought to be punished by the common law ; but there
should be no special clause for servants, except such a
clame as would apply in the same way to free citi-
zens. He was a tree citizen, and why should the
law meet him or any other free citizen with such
a twenty-fold punishment?

In the 17th clause, in
consequence of the letter they had before them, the
then Attorney-General, (meek-hearted, amiable man !)
Wished the maximum penalty to be £20, and in
default of payment, 14 days' solitary confinement. It
was a farce to suppose that any servant could raise
it, and therefore she must go to gaol, and this perhaps because the windows were not cleaned, or the
door-knocker not brightened, for which in England
she would only be slightly admonished.

Under the
19th clause in cases of ill-usage, the servant had
power to complain against the work. To do this, a
summons must be obtained, but whilst the servant
was gone to fetch the summons, the master could give
the servant info custody for absenting herself without
his consent. If the summons was obtained—if the
servant girl got a verdict—What then ? What was
the penalty? She might have been beaten, she
might have been half starved,—but what was the
penalty? Was the master imprisoned? Oh ! no !
but if convicted he would be ordered to pay a sum of
money not exceeding £20, just the sum of money
which could be levied upon a poor girl for a slight
offence. (Hear, hear.)

Now this be thought could
not be equalled in any country where freedom roared
its head. They might talk of the Russian barbarians,
the barbarians against whom the allied forces were
then engaged, but he questioned if even amongst
those barbarians such an enactment could be found
to exist. (Cheers.)

Say that an improper liberty
had been taken with a poor servant girl, and she
should refuse to serve again in the house where persons had done its worst—treason against a free subject,
treason against the Imperial Majesty of Great Britain,
upon each refusal she would be re-committed, and thus
would be subjected to perpetual imprisonment. Such
a state of things was enough to arouse them to apply
for a repeal of this barbaric enactment, for those who
came to this country free might find the prison bars
close upon them, those who bad never thought of such.

He had attended before the candidates upon this Act
Dr. Crooke was " disgusted ;" Mr. Walker thought
it was " most objectionable " (and he knew nothing
of it until he was reminded); and Dr. Bedford said
"nothing." Was it not extraordinary—was it not
most extraordinary—that those influential gentlemen
should not know anything of this Act, but had to
give it their " serious attention ?"

The speaker then
read a letter from Mr. Kermode, to whom he had
written upon this subject, and that gentleman had
thus replied :
"Mona Vale, Ross, March 20, 1855.
"Sir,—I am just on the point of leaving my home
on a journey to the north and of the island, and can
therefore only briefly acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of yesterday's date, in which you inform me that
a public meeting of a preliminary character is to be
held to-morrow evening at Hobart Town, for the
purpose of taking into consideration the Masters' and
Servants' Act, with a view of preparing a petition to
the Legislative Council, praying for a total repeal of
the Act, or for such a modification of it as will make
the labouring man's condition more secure than it is
at present, and in which you further inform me that
you are requested to invite me to present the said
petition to the Council.
I need only say in reply that I sympathise fully
with yourself and others in the object you have in view,
and, while it is not probable, that I shall have an
opportunity of attending at any of your meetings I
can nevertheless assure you that it will afford me very
sincere pleasure to present your petition to the Council,
when I trust, indeed I doubt not, every consideration will be given to your just and reasonable com-
plaints.
"I am. Sir,
" Your obedient Servant,
" R. Q. KERMODE."

There must be (said Mr. H.) some law for the control
of both servants and masters, but he would like to see
the sound old English method adopted, where a master
would tell his servant that if be did not do his work he
would discharge him at the end of a month's notice,
and where a servant could do the same; but he did not
like to see such barbaric and such severe laws at these
in any country at this day. (Loud cheers.)

Mr. Hollis then read the following resolution.
" That a petition be presented to the Legislative
Council at earliest sitting embodying the grievances
of which the servants cause, and just cause, to
complain," and praying,

Firstly.—For a repeal and extensive modification
of the Act known as the Masters' and Servants'
Act.

Secondly—That a committee of the House be
appointed to receive evidence showing the injurious
tendency of the said Act.

Thirdly—That the House will be pleased to order
return showing the number of servants, male and
female, committed under this Act to the various
prisons in the colony, the terms of their engagement,
their length of servitude, the nature of their offences,
the various periods of their imprisonment, whether
solitary or otherwise, together with amounts of
fines inflicted, at well at the amount of wages
forfeited.
Fourthly,—That returns be ordered showing the
number of employers against whom complaints shall
have been made, the nature of such complaints, the
number of convictions, together with the amount of
fines inflicted, whether paid or otherwise.

And lastly, that the Legislative Council will take
immediate steps to secure from rash and reckless
encroachments the liberty of every free subject of the
Imperial Majesty of Great Britain—that it will remedy
the great social wrong inflicted on a large proportion
of the population of this colony by the unwise, the
cruel, the imprudent legislation of the last session—that it will guarantee alike to all classes the invaluable
blessings of freedom, and thus lay a sound and solid
basis on which to build the future prosperity and greatness of Tasmania."

Mr. Partridge seconded the above resolution, which
was received with boisterous applause and carried
unanimously.
On the motion of Mr. Tyler, seconded by Mr.
Sharp, Murray-street, a committee of five, with power
to add to their number, was appointed.
Mr. Hollis was unanimously requested to prepare
the petition to be laid before the Legislative Council.

Subscriptions to carry out the objects of the meeting
were then given in, and the Press having heen thanked
for their attendance (a compliment to which Mr. Cox,
of the Colonial Times, responded,) Mr. Mitson was
appointed treasurer, (Mr. Cox declining the office,) a
vote of thanks was passed to the Chairman, and to Mr.
Hollis, and the meeting separated.